Monday, February 20, 2017

28 Days Of Black Women In Horror: Beryl Cunningham

Beryl Cunningham (1946- )

Screamers (1979)

Beryl was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica. After high school, she moved to London to attend university to pursue a modeling career. Cunningham's career, after some secondary roles, was launched in the late 1960's starring in a myriad of foreign films but later failed to capitalize on her early success and retired from acting in the early 1980's. During this career, Cunningham was also a presenter, hosting among others the 1971 edition of Cantagiro. She was also a singer, recording among others a cover of the Jula de Palma's hit "Tua". In 1979 she was a regular guest of the television program Playboy di mezzanotte. In 1981 she also published a book of Jamaican aphrodisiac recipes, La cucina giamaicana, published by Crochet Edizioni. (Source)

About Screamers (1979)

Screamers is about "aquatic creatures that threaten the existence of a mysterious island." Cunningham plays Shakira, "a voodoo priestess in the employ of Rackham that foretells death and destruction descending upon the island."

The movie has often been likened to a cross between H.G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) and the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

The name of the famous underwater mythological city featured in the movie was "Atlantis".